Enforcement Documents

documents that form the basis for the compulsory execution of decisions of courts and arbitration bodies as well as of acts of the other bodies indicated by law.

Soviet law distinguishes several types of enforcement documents. Among these are writs of execution, certified executory instruments, and arbitration awards issued on the basis of decisions of arbitration commissions or arbitration courts on disputes between state institutions, enterprises, and/or cooperative and public organizations. Enforcement documents also include awards by the Maritime Arbitration Commission that have legal force, payment orders in arrears but accepted by the payer, and certificates issued by the factory-plant or local committees dealing with labor disputes on the basis of decisions of commissions on labor disputes or resolutions of the factory-plant or local committees and certificates of the committees on disputes concerning compensation for damage. Resolutions issued by commissions on the affairs of minors concerning collection of money, decisions issued by administrative bodies on proceedings for collection from citizens without recourse to the court, and decisions of executive committees of local soviets on the collection of compensation for the destruction of crops and damage to plantings and on the compulsory sale of a citizen’s second house that is his personal property also have the status of enforcement documents.

If at least one party to the dispute is an individual, the enforcement document must be presented for compulsory execution within three years from the time that the decision on the case has entered into legal force; in all other cases, the limitation period is one year, unless otherwise provided for by legislation. The limitation period is as a rule interrupted when the enforcement document is presented for execution. If an execution creditor has missed the time for the presentation of the writ of execution or certified executory instrument for reasons recognized as justified by the court, the limitation period may be restored, unless otherwise provided for by the law.